Visiting the Island

These photos are from the displays at the Justice Institute in New Westminster.

While the identification of the body was going on, detectives conducted their own investigation as if they already knew the body was that of Pat Lowther.  On October 15, Roy Chapman and Ken Hale travelled to Mayne Island to see Roy Lowther.

They informed Lowther of the body found in Furry Creek and their suspicions it was his wife. The man appeared to be distressed and said, "That would be her, she had a thing about Furry Creek. We used to picnic up there How did she get up there? That's not going East. Maybe she wanted to see if before she went."

Detective Hale asked Lowther about something the officers had discovered when they had searched the home at East 46th for his wife's fingerprints. There were no mattresses on the beds. What happened to them?

Roy said the mattresses were there, on the island. But when the detectives checked, they only found those belonging to the children so they asked where the mattresses for the double bed were. Lowther replied those were at 'Sleepy Hollow', a cottage on the property. Detective Chapman found a yellow mattress, which was heavily stained on both sides and leaning against a wall. It appeared to have been washed recently and was still wet.

Chapman asked if that mattress was his and Lowther said yes. He was then asked why there were reddish stains on it and why it had been washed. Lowther claimed to know nothing about it. He claimed his wife must have washed it before it left. Then, after it was pointed out to him that his wife was gone for three weeks, he replied, "I don't know, maybe it was dew."

Roy Lowther was then asked if he had brought any tools to the island with him. He said yes and was asked to produce them. The detectives examined them and took a hammer. Lowther was also asked about a letter he had left for Pat.  It read:

"Pat, I hope you return soon and are well. Some sort of solution will have to be worked out, for this problem, with legal aid... Everyone has been extremely worried about your disappearance. Please contact us. Roy"

The wording of the letter was strange. The letter was there because Lowther felt as if his wife was going to return. If that were so, why didn't he write, "I'm glad you are back," instead of "I hope you return soon.'

Lowther thought a moment before stating, "I guess I'm a suspect." Chapman asked, "Roy, did you murder your wife?"

Roy jumped out of his chair, walked to window and looked out before returning to his chair. "No, I didn't kill my wife."

Thanks to the book Policebeat and its author, Joe Swan, for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

A Tale of Two

When I left you on Monday, Kathy Domphousse  had reported to Detective Menzies of the Vancouver Police Department that her mother, poet Pat Lowther, was missing. Menzies had phoned Kathy's stepfather, Roy Lowther, and arranged an interview for the following day. Then he had gone to work, researching the two people.

Roy was born in Britania Beach, BC and at the time of this event, 1975, was fifty-one years old. As a child, he was described as brilliant and was admitted to university at the age of fourteen. He became a Communist and in 1946 was deported from the United States on the grounds of his political activities in the Berkley, California area.

Once home in Canada, he got married. However, in 1961 he assaulted his wife and wound up in Essondale hospital for two months. That marriage ended in divorce in 1963 - the same year he married Pat Domphousse.

Pat was 11 years younger than Roy. Like him, she was an intelligent and talented child. She had written her first verse at the age of three and won a poetry contest by the time she was ten.

At the age of 16, Pat left school and worked at a series of office jobs. She never gave up on her writing though. An early marriage had failed but left her with her daughter, Kathy Domphousse.

When Pat began to get involved in left-wing politics, she met Roy Lowther. Lowther was an avid environmentalist, before it was fashionable to be so, and this theme showed in many of his poems. He was unemployed at the time. He was managing editor of a poetry magazine for the Vancouver Writer's Guild.

According to friends of the Lowthers, the marriage started very happily. Two children were born during the early years and things looked good.

Roy taught school in Maple Ridge and Coquitlam but was later demoted to substitute teacher and, in 1971, he stopped teaching altogether.  Pat's success progressed though and the marriage began to fall apart.

Pat found solace from her unhappy marriage in her poetry and was finally being recognized for her work. In 1968, her first book was published. But her friends saw that she remained unhappy in the marriage and they suspected Roy was abusing her. Her friends offered to help her get out of her situation. They even rented a truck to help her move.

But Pat was unable to make the final break.

I would like to thank the book Policebeat and its author, Joe Swan, for the information above. I will tell you more about this case on Friday.

Once again, the photos are of the Commercial Drive area in Vancouver.

I hope you find the beauty around you.